An electromechanical actuator of a brake of an aircraft wheel conventionally comprises a plunger provided with a skid and an electric motor suitable for displacing the plunger facing friction members of the brake (a stack of carbon discs for example), so as to exert a braking torque on the wheel tending to slow down the aircraft.
Such actuators are electrically powered and controlled by external control means which receive a braking setpoint and determine a braking force to be applied to the friction members.
It is vital to the safety of the aircraft to ensure, on the one hand, that a controlled braking force is correctly applied, and, on the other hand, that a braking force is not applied in an untimely manner.
The braking setpoint, the electrical power supply and the control of the motors are obviously monitored, but it is also necessary to ensure that the actual behaviour of the actuator does indeed correspond to the expected behaviour.
To monitor the actual behaviour of the actuator, it is possible to implement a first method consisting in detecting the application of a braking force by monitoring variations of the electrical current consumed by the motor of the actuator. This first method presents a significant risk of untimely detection of braking force. It is also possible to implement a second method consisting in incorporating a force sensor directly in the actuator. This second method presents a certain number of drawbacks: costs, sensitivity to the environment, etc.